The Dark Knight Rises Review

Synopsis
After taking the fall for the death of Harvey Dent eight years ago, Batman disappeared and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) went into seclusion inside Wayne manner. But when Bane (Tom Hardy) takes Gotham City hostage, Batman will need to appear again to save the city. But this time, he has the help of the skilled cat burglar Selina Kyle (Ann Hathaway) and police officer John Black (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

Review
Christopher Nolan crafted some character defining stories in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and looks to do the same with The Dark Knight Rises. It’s almost impossible to do better than The Dark Knight, but The Dark Knight Rises is able to continue the momentum of awesomeness that began in Batman Begins and offers a satisfying conclusion to Nolan’s Batman epic.

This film is influenced by the 90s story arc “Knightfall,” which introduced Bane. Bane is a villain who able to match Batman both physically and mentally. The version of Bane in this movie was very faithful to his comic counterpart. Not only does he develop the plan to take over Gotham City, but he also takes Batman head on (and wins!). The only thing missing is Bane’s signature Venom serum to give him his super strength. Instead, this was replaced with the mask you see in the film.

The purpose of Bane’s mask isn’t explained real clearly. His mask was described to help ease pain he continually feels from a previous injury. But when it gets damage, Bane’s punches take huge chunks out of a stone pillar. So it appears his mask seemingly holds his strength back. I think they should have done something more along the lines of the Venom serum that augments his strength, maybe as something he inhales through the mask.

Another character they took an interesting interpretation of was Catwoman. She was never once called ‘Catwoman.’ The closest thing to Catwoman was ‘Cat Burglar.’ And she wasn’t dressed like a cat. Instead, her super cool burglar glasses create cat ears in her silhouette when they were not in use. I liked it because it was like “Hey, it’s Catwoman!” but they never said, “Hey, it’s Catwoman!”

The League of Shadows played an integral role in Batman Begins, and they play a strong role in this film, bring the trilogy full circle. It’s pretty cool that they were able to bring back such an important group from Batman’s beginning for his finale. And and the center of the League is Ra’s al Ghul. In the comics, for those unfamiliar with the character, al Ghul is immortal. Now immortality in the traditional sense does not fit into the more realistic settings of The Dark Knight trilogy, but there are other ways to live forever, which this film plays with. It is a nice nod to the source material, while still staying within the trilogy’s continuity and realism.

As I have pointed out in my reviews for the previous films in the trilogy, Hans Zimmer’s score is one of my favorite parts of the movie, and it has only improved in each film. A lot of the music is recycled from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but there is new music for Bane’s Theme and a few others. Once again, the music is well balanced with the dialog. There are moments that the score is silent, making these moments even more emotional. Not everything moment needs a strong score behind it; sometimes the lack of sound is just as powerful.

The Dark Knight Rises offers a satisfying conclusions to Nolan’s Batman epic. Finally, Bane has a big screen appearance that properly portrays his genius and strength in the comics onto the silver screen. The Dark Knight trilogy finishes just as strong as it began.

Rating
4.5/5

For the rest of The Dark Knight trilogy, check out my reviews for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

Pacific Rim Review

Pacific Rim is a popcorn flick in every sense of the word.  I am a fan of several mecha anime (such as Gundam or Code Geass) and Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers was a big deal when I was young, and this was a love letter to all of that.  Pacific Rim may not be for everyone but it was definitely for me.

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Synopsis
When Kaijus, giant creatures from a different dimension, emerge from the Pacific Ocean, humanity bands together and creates large mechas, called Jaegers, piloted by two soldiers. Raleigh Becket (Charlie Hunnam), along with his brother (Diego Klaggenhoff), pilots the Jaeger named Gypsy Danger. When his brother dies in battle with a Kaiju, Raleigh goes underground. Years later, Stacker Pentecost (Idris Elba) convinces him to return to the fight for one final mission against the Kaiju.

Review
So going into the theater for Pacific Rim, I guess you could say my expectations were pretty high. Awesome special effects, a great director, an original story influenced by different anime, and giant robots fighting giant monsters Power Rangers style had the potential for a truly amazing and visceral experience. Although it stumbled at times, Pacific Rim met these expectations head on.

The special effects in this film were fantastic. I haven’t been this impressed with visuals since Avatar. It was very easy to see where most of the movie’s budget was spent. The Kaiju monsters were hands-down my favorite visuals from the movie, particularly the lambent ones. They looked very organic, maybe even more so than the Na’vi from Avatar, which were impressively well done. You can see every Kaiju skin wrinkle and the skin wasn’t flat, but dynamic. The Jaegers were just as stunning.

This is the second film I have seen this summer that forgoes starting at the beginning of a conflict and instead just jumps directly into the middle of it. And once again, it is used to great effect. By doing this, the story is allowed to move forward. A brief history was given in the beginning, but flashbacks were mainly utilized to fill in the gaps. The early years of the Kaiju War would be really cool to be explored in a prequel film. There is a lot of material there that would be fun to see.

My biggest disappointment with Pacific Rim was that there weren’t as many Kaiju vs. Jaeger fights as I would have liked/expected. That was what I was truly looking forward to the most. And because there weren’t many battles, there wasn’t much focus on other mechas besides Gypsy Danger. I would have liked to see a focus on the Jaegers as a whole, rather than one in particular. The lack of focus on the giant battles leaves more room allocated for characterization. Maybe a prequel, if there ever is one, could delve more into the Jaegers.

Despite the striking visual effects, they also caused problems at times. During several scenes there was rain, almost a requirement for action movies nowadays (you know, for dramatic effect). Normally, this wouldn’t be a problem, but the camera work was wonky, and these two factors combined made it very difficult to see the action.

Pacific Rim delivers on the action. Although there wasn’t as much as expected, when they did happen, they were huge and exciting. And a less action-oriented focus allowed more characterization, leading to some great character moments near the end. The visual effects were really spectacular, and extremely well done. You’d be hard pressed to find a more visually stunning film.

Rating
4/5

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Guillermo del Toro – Director / Screenplay
Travis Beacham – Screenplay / Story

Charlie Hunnam – Raleigh Becket
Diego Klattenhoff – Yancy Becket
Idris Elba – Stacker Pentecost
Rinko Kikuchi – Mako Mori
Charlie Day – Dr. Newton Geiszler
Burn Gorman – Gottlieb
Max Martini – Herc Hansen
Rob Kazinsky – Chuck Hansen
Clifton Collins, Jr. – Ops Tendo Choi
Ron Perlman – Hannibal Chau